Brief of Amici Curiae the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, National AIDS Housing Coalition, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Urban Justice Center and Wild for Human Rights in Support of Respondents Regarding Medicaid Expansion, in the Supreme Court of the United States, State of Florida, et al., v. United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., on Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 11-400

Abstract:     
This amicus brief was filed before the Supreme Court in the Medicaid Expansion portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) litigation on behalf of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and other national organizations concerned with the international human rights implications of the ACA litigation, particularly with regard to race discrimination. The brief first argues that the international context of the ACA is relevant to the Court’s consideration of the law’s constitutionality, noting the many times when the Court has taken international law into account in rendering decisions. The brief then chronicles the occasions on which international bodies and U.N. experts reviewing U.S. treaty compliance have noted extreme concern over racial disparities in access to health care in the U.S. Since the ACA’s enactment, the U.S. government has responded to these critics by citing the ACA to demonstrate U.S. progress toward meeting its international human rights treaty obligations and ensuring equal access to health care regardless of race. The brief further argues that Congress intended the Medicaid Expansion Provision of the ACA to help alleviate racial disparities in health care access, consistent with these international obligations.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 34

Accepted Paper Series